This week we were incredibly lucky to have an online guest lecture by none other than Tom Piper himself, discussing his well known career in Theatre, Installation and Exhibition design. He is well known for his poppy installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red around the Tower of London in 2014 as well as heading the design for many plays at the RSC. Tom walked us through his process of designing his pieces and how important it is to play with concepts and throw away ideas that aren’t working. He also spoke about finding your own way of working that is individualised and suited to you, however you find it easiest to communicate your ideas effectively to others and inspire them to create costumes and sets based on your design. When asked about creating interesting and immersive exhibitions based around objects, Tom said that for him and his theatre background, ‘the objects become the actors’ and finding a balance between information and space is really essential, pacing the layout to allow the audience time to breath and explore around learning and taking in all the information about these objects.
If you have not seen any of Tom Piper’s creations before then I really recommend exploring his work and trying to see some in person if possible, he is currently working on an Alice in Wonderland exhibition at the V&A in London that will be opening in March 2021 and is to be one of the most immersive and interactive exhibitions they have had to date.
